The witness I’ve described as coming in the spirit and power of John can be further identified by what he is destined to prophesy. The angel said this to John; “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” (Rev. 10:11) The word “about” here is better translated as against or toward. In other words, John will be compelled to confront many with God’s message for that time. In scripture, the prophets of old were primarily tasked with preaching the coming judgment of God on the nations who chose wickedness over following God. I don’t think John’s message will be any different as he will be powerfully warning peoples, nations, tongues, and kings about the day of the Lord when all will be judged for their actions. Notice that he will primarily be addressing nations other than Israel. He will be telling the people of the world and their leaders not to follow wickedness and deceptive teaching, but to follow Christ and His teaching. I think that we here in the US will receive quite a tongue lashing from John about our downward spiral from the Christian foundation of our country. I think we’ll hear the word repent a lot! John will also be free to reveal the contents of the “little scroll” which he was instructed to eat, and also the words spoken by the “seven thunders”. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to learn what they contain, as I’m sure the message will be of huge significance for us at that time. John will truly be a prophet to the world.
Elijah, on the other hand, will have a ministry that is more focused or Israel. Jesus said this about Elijah’s future coming; “Indeed, Elijah is coming first, and will restore all things“(Matthew 17:11). It’s obvious that John the Baptist did not “restore all things”, so this statement refers to the future. Just what did Jesus mean by restore all things? In order for something to be restored, it must first have functionally existed, then disappeared or lapsed into disuse. In my opinion, the best fit to explain what is likely meant here is the abrupt end to the Jewish priesthood, and temple worship in Jerusalem in 70 AD. It is quite clear from other prophecy, that these two items must be restored in the near future. Evidently, the great influence Elijah will have with orthodox Judaism, will permit him to oversee this restoration. At this point, you may be wondering why would one of Jesus’ special witnesses be concerned about restoring temple worship complete with animal sacrifices? Didn’t Jesus fulfill all of that ? I believe It’s because of God’s promise to Israel. You can read about it in Deuteronomy 30:1-6. Then, God says this in Malachi; “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:4-5) Certainly, Mosaic law in all it’s fulness will be restored and practiced during, at least, the 1st three and one half years of the 70th week. Then the antichrist (who had confirmed the Mosaic covenant for one week) will cause the sacrifice and offering to cease following the completion of the ministry of the two witnesses. (Daniel 11:31, 12:11). I’m certain that all the while this is going on, Elijah will be telling the Jews how Jesus their Messiah fulfilled all these things they are practicing. Eventually, at Jesus’ return, the entire Jewish remnant will be saved, and acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah.
All this public ministry of the two witnesses will not go unnoticed by the church, but will be helpful to us both in identifying them and heeding what they preach. In the next blog, I’ll wrap up this series on the two witnesses.